


Pink Elephants

by wallbanger2008



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Apritello, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Making Out, Mind Reading, Sex, Telepathy, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27764305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallbanger2008/pseuds/wallbanger2008
Summary: After an experiment in Donnie’s lab goes awry, April is left with the ability to hear the thoughts of others. It’s a gift and a curse, and Donnie’s working hard to fix things. But she may overhear a few interesting things until he finally does.
Relationships: Donatello/April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 84
Kudos: 116





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie and April are back at it again in the lab... to mixed results. When will these kids learn?
> 
> (In case it’s not clear, thoughts are in italics)

“Thanks again for agreeing to this, April,” Donnie said as he moved around her, making adjustments to the device on her head. 

“Well, this isn’t a completely selfless act,” April shrugged. “I’d also like to understand my powers a bit more.” 

“Yeeah, but given our track record using this thing, I’m impressed and grateful you’re willing to give it another go.”

April mentally cringed as she thought about the last time she’d let Donnie experiment on her. To say it had gone poorly was the understatement of the year. She almost felt like _she_ should be the one telling him she was impressed and grateful—that he was still her friend. 

It had been almost a year since that horrible, rainy day when she’d scattered him in a billion pieces. He had been so quick to forgive her, she’d almost been suspicious. But Donnie had always been terrible at hiding his emotions from her, and this was no different. She didn’t have to use her powers to know he had honestly forgiven her and he still felt so strongly about her. And thank goodness, because for a long time after that day, using her powers wasn’t high on her list of things she enjoyed doing. 

She wondered if Donnie had sensed this, because he didn’t ask her about experimenting on her for months after. Or maybe he was just nervous about fucking up again. Regardless of his reasons, she was grateful for the break. When, ten months later, he’d asked if she’d be up for running some tests, she felt like enough time had passed and had agreed. 

She watched as Donnie futzed with a few knobs on the familiar-looking contraption he liked to use whenever they tested her. He was muttering something under his breath and she smiled as she watched him in his element. 

“...and we’ll adjust this by a quarter hertz and I think we’ll be good to go. Ok,” he clapped his hands together and turned around to face her. “So, we’re not doing flash cards today. I want to see if you can try to read my mind,” he gestured theatrically to his head. “We’ll start off easy, I’ll just think of a number from one to fifty and repeat that number in my head. I want you to try to ‘hear’ the number. If this works, we’ll build up to full sentences, ok?” 

April frowned. “Ok, but that’s not how my power works. I can’t read people’s thoughts. I just… feel their emotions or sense their presence. So unless numbers have emotions…” she drifted off. 

“I know,” Donnie said excitedly. “But I have a theory that if we’re able to shift your neural oscillations while you’re using your power, we may be able to expand its capacity!” 

“Can you dial that down just a bit for me?” 

He grinned. “If we can change your brain waves while you’re using your power, we may be able to unlock some new potential.” 

“And you can do that?” 

“I think so,” he patted the machine she was currently hooked up to. “I’ve made some adjustments and I think it should work. Whaddya say, should we fire this baby up?” 

April glanced between him and the machine, then sighed. Well, let it never be said that she didn’t do her part for science. Or that she didn’t trust Donnie. “Let’s do this.” 

“That’s my girl! Or, uh… you know…” he immediately tried to backtrack awkwardly, “a girl… uh, good for you. Anyway.” He spun around quickly and began flicking switches on the machine. 

April said nothing as the machine hummed to life. The device on her head was beginning to light up and she could detect a slight vibration coming from it. She glanced at Donnie, who had turned back around and was watching her. 

“Everything’s working exactly as it should,” he said comfortingly and she nodded. 

“Ok, let’s start.” He grabbed a pen and paper and turned his back on her again. She could see him writing something on the paper, then folding it up before he turned around again.

“I’ve written a number on this paper,” he explained. “And when I say go, I’m going to start thinking of it in my head. Let me know if you can hear or see anything, ok?” 

April nodded. 

“Ok, go.” 

April closed her eyes and reached out to Donnie through her power. She allowed herself to bask in the pleasant familiarity of him as her mind enveloped him, running over his emotional baseline, all curiosity and eagerness with a touch of frustration and pain… and that warm, gooey feeling she knew was reserved for her. 

But no number. 

“Sorry, Don,” she shook her head. “I’m not getting anything.” 

“Nothing at all?” 

“Just what I’m normally able to pick up.” 

“Ok, no problem. Let me make some adjustments.” She watched as he twiddled with a few knobs on the machine, causing the humming to change slightly in pitch. “Ok, try again.” 

She reached out again, but only felt the usual emotions she could identify in her sleep as “Donnie.” 

“Nope, nothing.”

Undaunted, he made a few more adjustments and asked her to keep trying. Again, no numbers. They repeated the cycle half a dozen times, and the only thing that changed was the growing amount of frustration April could feel radiating off of Donnie. 

After the seventh futile round, Donnie frowned and looked at the machine for a second. “You know, maybe…” he mumbled to himself. “Yeah, let’s try that.” He flicked a few more switches and turned a few more knobs and April noticed the lights on her headpiece began to glow brighter. 

“Ok, see if this works,” Donnie called over his shoulder as he flicked one last switch. 

It was immediately apparent that he’d made a mistake. April shrieked as the lights on the headpiece shattered and the humming noise grew to uncomfortably loud levels before a cacophonous explosion knocked her from her chair. 

The lights in the lab flickered as she ripped the device from her head. “What the hell was that!?” 

Donnie had rushed to her side and was helping her up, looking appalled and ashamed. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, April. Are you all right?” He gently guided her across the lab to his desk chair. 

“I-I think so,” she said. She patted her hands over her body and stretched her limbs, examining herself for any pain that might indicate something was wrong. Everything seemed fine, although she thought she could feel a headache starting to come on.

She refocused on Donnie who was still babbling apologies. “...sorry, that was really stupid of me, I should have stuck to incrimental steps, I don’t know what I was thinking… ” 

She stood up and put her hands on his forearms. “Donnie. Stop.”

He clammed up and gazed down at her sorrowfully. “Sorry, April. I just… god every time I try something with that thing… it just never seems to end well, does it?”

April stroked his arms. “Yeah,” she said slowly. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she sure as hell wasn’t in any hurry for more experimenting. Not with that machine. Three strikes and you’re out. “Maybe we just… take another break from all this for a while. We can come back to it later.” _Or never_. 

Donnie nodded. “Don’t worry, we are definitely done for now.” He scratched his head and glanced over at the machine. “I need to take another look at that thing.”

“You go ahead. I think I’m gonna head home.” The beginnings of her headache hadn’t subsided and she wanted nothing more than to leave the lair and crawl into her bed with the lights out. 

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah… just a little tired,” she lied, knowing Donnie would want to keep her there longer for examination if she told him about her head. “Good night, Donnie,” she said. She reached out and squeezed his hand. 

“Night April,” he smiled down at her and squeezed back.   


* * *

The next morning, April awoke feeling like she’d spent the night before slamming tequila shots with Casey. Her head was pounding and her body felt exhausted as she hauled herself out of bed and opened her desk drawer in search of some ibuprofen. 

She tossed back a few pills, turned on her little two cup coffee maker, and set about forcing herself through the paces of getting ready for her 8:00 am biology class.

The ibuprofen and coffee seemed to be working as she walked across campus with her head down, not feeling particularly social this morning, even though the mental hangover Donnie’s machine had given her had started to lift. With her mental fog gone, she began to notice that the campus seemed louder than usual. Not in volume, per se, everyone just seemed chattier. People are probably just glad it’s Friday, she thought to herself as she hurried in the door of the building that held her class. 

As she walked toward the classroom, a student hurried by her. “ _Shit, shit, shit, I can't believe I forgot that essay in my dorm. Fuuuuuck…_ ”

She turned to stare after him, wondering if he was talking to her, but he was already headed through the doors. Shaking her head, she pulled open the door of her classroom and made her way to her normal seat toward the back. 

Again, it was louder than usual. Early classes on Friday mornings often meant hungover students, which in turn meant a subdued atmosphere. April mental shrugged and focused on pulling out her notebook. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl sliding into the chair next to hers. 

“ _Ugh, again with that smell. It’s like she lives at the dump! Girlfriend needs a shower._ ”

April whipped her head around and stared at the girl. The girl was pulling her textbook out of her bag and it was a couple seconds before she noticed April staring at her. 

“Um… morning,” she said with a small smile, then turned back to her things. 

“ _I have to remember to stop sitting next to her. That or bring a nose plug._ ”

April’s jaw dropped. She’d definitely heard the girl’s voice—but her mouth had been closed. The girl glanced over at her again. 

“ _Oh god, why is she staring at me? Is it that zit on my jaw? I thought I covered it up._ ” She rummaged through her bag and took out a compact and began examining her face. “ _No, no, all good_ …” Her mouth was still closed.

April slowly turned away and glanced around the room. 

She could see it now. Voices coming from students… students whose mouths weren’t moving. 

_I shouldn’t have had those last two beers last night._

_I swear if I don’t get a better grade on the upcoming exam I’m switching majors._

_Should I text him? It’s probably too early, right? Maybe after lunch?_

_Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo baby shark… fuck I’m going to kill my roommate for getting that stuck in my head again._

_Just one class. Just get through it and then you can go back to bed and sleep this off. Blergh._

Her eyes darted back and forth as comprehension dawned on her. She was hearing her classmate’s thoughts. 

“Ohhh shit,” she muttered. Yeah, she wasn’t going to be able to sit through this lecture. She grabbed her notebook, shoved it in her bag, and stood up. 

_Such a weirdo. A smelly weirdo._

April glanced again at the girl next to her and hurried out of the room and back to her dorm, surreptitiously smelling her shirt as she went. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: April runs to tell Donnie about her new power... and he predictably panics over whether she might hear some of his “I Love April, April Is So Great” thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April tells Donnie about her new condition and Donnie struggles to keep his mind on the straight and narrow around her.
> 
> (Thoughts are in italics)

April walked out of her dorm room for the second time that morning—having showered this time because damn, that girl’s words had stung—on a mission. She had to get to Donnie. She’d been careful to wait until the middle of the next class period, knowing that would mean fewer students out and about. 

Her plan had worked. She only crossed paths with a few stray students—a couple thinking about the parties they’d been to the night before, a few thinking about upcoming classes, and one fretting about a fight with her best friend. There had also been one guy, shuffling along in pajama pants and a stained sweatshirt, who’d given her a once over before thinking some incredibly lewd thoughts that had left April squirming. 

With that experience under her belt, she decided to slip down into the first manhole she could find. Roaming off campus and into the city like this sounded like a nightmare, and she was eager for the silence of the sewers—no matter how bad they might make her smell. 

She made her way through the tunnels below until she could hear familiar voices bickering. Mikey and Raph. It made her pause for a moment. Would she be able to hear their thoughts? Would their species make a difference? 

There was only one thing for it. She had to get to Donnie, and if it meant having to hear her friends’ private thoughts, well, so be it. She strode forward around the corner and through the turnstiles. 

“I already put up with your shenanigans at breakfast, I’m telling ya for the last time: chocolate chips don’t belong sprinkled on eggs. Now move!”

“Aw, come on man, where’s your sense of culinary adventure! Oh, hey April!” 

Both turtles turned and gave her a wave. She waved back, trying not to linger on the unappetizing images of their breakfast they were both currently broadcasting. 

“Where’s Donnie?”

Raph nodded toward the lab. “I thought you usually have class on Fridays.” 

_Maybe Casey’s wearing off on her. Probably not a good thing. I told him he needs to back off…_

“Uh, class was canceled,” she muttered as she hurried away toward the lab.

She let herself in and closed the door behind her. “Donnie!” she yelled, charging over to where he was sitting at his computer and nursing a coffee. 

He jumped, looking around wildly toward the sound of her voice. “April! What are you doing here? Don’t you have class?” 

She’d barely arrived at his desk before it started. 

_Is she skipping class to spend time with me? She really shouldn’t… but if she is, maybe… no. Forget it. Ugh, her legs look really good in those leggings though. Remember that dream the other week? When she wrapped them around…_

“Donnie!” April snapped, and he looked bewildered. It took her a second to realize that from his point of view, she’d just yelled at him for no reason. She took a breath and settled herself. 

“Your experiment last night,” she began, leaning in toward him as if she was afraid his brothers might somehow overhear. “It… did something to me.” 

This set off another avalanche of thoughts inside Donnie’s head. _Oh god, oh no. You dope. You hurt her again. She looks all right though, physically…_

“I can hear people’s thoughts,” April interrupted him. 

His mind was finally silent as he stared at her. “What?” 

“Whatever you were trying to do, it must have worked because I can hear everything you’re saying in there,” she poked his forehead. 

She could hear a building stream of doubt warring with panic coming out of his mind, but she focused on what was coming out of his lips. “That’s… are you sure?” he said warily. 

“When I came in here you thought my legs looked nice in these leggings and then started to reminisce about a dream you’d had about me.” 

She watched his face contort in horror. “Ohhhh crap,” he whimpered before scrambling to apologize. “April I am so sorry you had to hear that, it was completely inappropriate of me…” 

Poor Donnie. She felt a ludicrous urge to laugh; here she was telling him his experiment had succeeded (for better or worse) and all he could do was stumble over himself to apologize for his own private thoughts. 

She put her hands on his shoulders. “Donnie… chill out, it’s ok. I’m not mad. But you can see how this is a problem, right? I can’t control it the same way I can control my normal powers. I’ve already heard plenty of stuff I wish I hadn’t.” 

Donnie sighed. “Including from me.” She could hear him call himself an idiot in his head. 

“Please, I don’t mind _you_ , uh, admiring the way I look,” she said. “But one guy I passed on the way here got pretty explicit about what he’d like to do to me. That… was gross. And I found out the girl who sits next to me in bio thinks I stink. Like literally. Stink.” 

Donnie leaned in and sniffed. “You don’t stink.” _You smell like lilacs and soap and absolute heaven._

April smiled. “I showered before coming here. If there’s one takeaway from this it’s that I need to shower or something after I’ve been hanging out down here. I may not notice the smell anymore, but I guess other people do. Again, not stuff that I want to hear. We gotta find a way to fix me.”

“Ok…” Donnie mused, scratching his chin in thought. 

April had always known Donnie was smart. Heck, anyone who’d spent more than ten minutes around him could tell you he was smart. But she didn’t appreciate until now just how quickly his mind worked. 

His thoughts were running so fast she could barely understand them. Sometimes he’d begin a thought, then quickly abandon it and jump into another. It was like watching a chess match on high speed. 

Finally he stood up. “All right, you may not want to hear this, but I think our best bet is to hook you back up to the machine. I might be able to reset your neural wave pattern back to its usual state.” 

She’d figured it might come to this. “That’s fine. Whatever it takes.” 

“Ok then, let’s try to fix that head of yours.” 

She followed him over to where the machine was still sitting out. He gestured for her to sit and handed her the headpiece, which she noticed was now clear of broken bulbs. As he switched on the machine and began adjusting it, she could hear his mind bouncing back and forth between making calculations that made zero sense to her and chastising himself against any errant thoughts. 

She shook her head and put the headpiece on. Being quite aware of Donnie’s feelings toward her, she’d expected she might be in for some intense thoughts from him. She didn’t mind that he thought about her in that way. In fact, if she was being honest with herself, she’d slowly begun thinking about him in that way too.  


Ever since that awful night when she’d had even the slightest taste of what her life might be like without him in it, she’d been re-examining her feelings for him—and admitting to herself that he was definitely more than a friend. More than a best friend even. Yeah, they were definitely in some kind of gray space between friends and… something more. 

Regardless of her own confusion, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine how nerve-wracking it must be to know the person you’re crushing on can hear your every thought. 

_ Ready to go, April?  _

She startled from her thoughts and nodded. 

“Huh. I said that in my head, just to try. Pretty wild,” he said quietly. _She’s amazing. Uh, sorry, you’re amazing. Just, ugh, nevermind._

“It’s ok, let’s just try to fix this,” April said patiently. 

“All right, here we go.” _I hope_. He flicked a final switch and the same loud humming from the night before filled the room. April closed her eyes, hoping this would work. The machine let out another bang, then quieted. Donnie flipped another switch. 

_ Can you hear me?  _

April hung her head and groaned. “Yeah.” 

“Sewer apples. This might take me a while to figure out. You know, maybe if we…” 

He was interrupted by the door sliding open. April shot him a look she hoped said ‘do not tell your brothers’ as Mikey waltzed into the lab. 

“Waddup home slices?” 

“Now’s not a good time, Mikey,” Donnie said patiently. 

“I just wanted to see what you were up to. Still making April play lab rat?” April caught a mental image of a very adorable-looking version of herself running around in a hamster ball. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Just some tests we needed to do, nothing exciting,” Donnie lied. _Please, please just go away, Mikey._

“All right, all right,” Mikey sighed dramatically. “I can take a hint.” _Maybe Leo will want to hang out instead._

“Close the door on your way out please,” Donnie called after him. 

“Sure thing bro!” _Close the door so you two can have some lab rat smoochy time, I’ll bet._

When the door was shut, April let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for not telling him.”

“Yeah, I got the feeling you wanted this kept secret.” 

“You understand why, right? I mean, it can’t be comfortable for you, knowing I can hear your thoughts. I just don’t want everyone acting weird around me.” April looked down at her feet. This was awful. Maybe it had been naive to think Donnie could fix it so easily. How long was she going to be stuck like this?

Donnie patted her shoulder. _Poor thing. You did this to her. You have to fix it._ “I get it. And April, I promise you I’m going to find a way to fix it. And… in the interest of, uh, preserving our friendship while I work this out, I’m just going to apologize now for everything you might hear. You know, in here.” He tapped on his temple. “I’m going to try my best to control my thoughts around you, but sometimes…” he shrugged. “Kinda regretting not spending more time working on meditation now. Clearing my mind, that sort of thing.” 

April was suddenly filled with an intense warmth for her friend. This couldn’t be easy for him. There was no sense in holding his thoughts against him. They were supposed to be private. And really, who didn’t lose control over what they were thinking from time to time? It wasn’t like she never had thoughts about him. 

She gingerly removed the headpiece and set it aside. “Thanks Donnie. I know you’ll figure it out. And… don’t worry too much about what I might hear. I’m not gonna judge you for your own thoughts. I get it.” 

_ That’s what she thinks. Just don’t think about her... uh, uh, power cells, mapping the genome, ah shit. Pull it together, Donatello. _

April giggled. “I swear, it’s ok.” 

Donnie looked less than convinced. He shook his head. “This whole thing is just…” he drifted off before changing direction. “Hey, do you mind if I ask you what it’s like? Like can you literally hear my voice in your head or is it more like the information is just dropped in?” He leaned forward, looking keen. 

“I’m still getting used to it, but I think it depends. If it’s a clear thought, I can hear the person’s voice. But if it’s more of an abstract concept or mental image, I just sort of get a picture or feeling,” April explained, understanding that, despite it being a royal pain in the ass, this ability _was_ pretty fascinating. “Like, I was able to see the chocolate chip eggs you guys had for breakfast when I walked past Raph and Mikey while they were arguing about them.”

Donnie shuddered. “Yeah, I skipped on breakfast today. So, you got to hear my brothers’ thoughts. What was that like?” 

She chuckled. “Eh, Raph thinks Casey might be a bad influence on me and Mikey thinks we’re in here making out right now.”

She was immediately slammed with a mental image from Donnie of her sitting on the edge of his lab table with her legs wrapped around him as they kissed hungrily. 

“Oh… oh no, sorry!” he squeaked, blushing furiously and covering his face with his hands. 

April was feeling a little pink in the cheeks as well. She cleared her throat. “No, it’s ok. I thought the same thing when I heard Mikey think it. Kinda hard not to, right?”

“Don’t think of the pink elephant,” Donnie muttered, almost to himself. 

“What?”

He shook his head. “It’s a phrase used to discuss ironic process theory. When someone says something, it’s natural to visualize what they’re talking about. And when someone tells you _not_ to think about something, it becomes exponentially harder not to think about it.”

“What does that have to do with pink elephants?” April asked. 

“Ok, quick experiment,” Donnie said holding his hands up. April grinned, thankful that they’d been able to slip back into normal April & Donnie talk for a moment. 

“For the next thirty seconds, you can think of anything. Anything at all. Except… you can’t think about pink elephants. Go.”

April tried to think of anything else, but sure enough the first thought she had after he said ‘go’ was of a pink elephant. “Gah! Yeah, can’t do it.” 

“There you go,” Donnie said, spreading his arms. “So you can imagine how I feel, uh, being around you right now.” _She’ll get it. She’s a smart cookie. And beautiful. And perfect really… ah, pink elephant!_

April smiled. “I understand. And that’s why you’re not on the hook for anything you might think around me until we get this straightened out.” 

“It might take a couple days,” he said apologetically.

She let out a breath. “Then it takes a couple days. I believe in you, Donnie.”

“Thanks April. And, I’m sorry. Again. I think when we’re done here, that’s it for this machine. I… I feel awful about this.” He hung his head. 

“It’s ok, D. It was an accident. And I could have said no when you asked if you could run more tests.”

_I shouldn’t have even asked in the first place._ “I’m going to do everything I can to fix this. I promise. Then, you and I are going to strip this thing for parts,” he eyed the machine. 

April chuckled. “Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol poor Donnie. This takes place when they’re all around 21 or 22, so by now he’s gotten better about being a little more chill around April. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still fawn over her in his head.
> 
> Next Chapter: April and Donnie get down to some science. 
> 
> Plus! April learns something new about Leo, and finds her new powers have some benefits in the dojo.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie and April try to get used to their new dynamic, and April finds a fun new use for her telepathy in the dojo.

April felt a little like she was 16 again. She and Donnie had agreed that it was probably best if she stayed in the lair until he was able to work out how to fix her, so it was back to living in the tiny spare room she’d once occupied while her father had been batting around the city. 

When the others asked why she was moving back in for a few days, Donnie had told them they were on the brink of an important breakthrough in understanding April’s powers better. Raph and Mikey had bought it, but Leo had been suspicious. He’d said ‘ok,’ and turned back to the TV, but April was still able to hear him mulling it over in his head. He was worried about the two of them repeating past mistakes, about them getting too obsessed over April’s powers, and she couldn’t blame him. Fortunately, he seemed content to keep these thoughts to himself. 

Not that April had given him much opportunity to talk to her since then. She and Donnie had kept to the lab, which was fine with her. She wasn’t terribly keen on overhearing anything she shouldn’t. 

Their morning had been quite the adventure as both of them got used to the fact that April could now hear his every thought. It had been interesting, to say the least.  


For one, she found it pretty funny that Donnie cursed a lot more in his head than he ever did out loud. She’d asked him about it, and he’d mumbled sheepishly that Splinter had been pretty strict about language, and besides, he was just trying to be a gentleman, which had only made her laugh. 

He’d also struggled for a while with controlling his thoughts about her. It turned out to be _quite_ the ego trip, listening to him think about how much he liked her ass, her boobs, her legs, her hair, her eyes… literally everything about her. And not just physically either. She was touched to hear he really did think she was smart and funny and compassionate.  


Buuuuut, hearing how impressed he was with her patience for his tests didn’t send little jolts to the pit of her stomach quite like hearing how he longed to grab her by the hips, pull her into his lap, and kiss her while he pressed himself up into her. Because, ok, the idea of Donnie just taking control and grabbing her… it kinda did things to her. She was thankful no one came into the lab all morning—their matching blushes would have made quite the sight. 

Donnie had apologized over and over again for any stray, inappropriate thoughts and thought about pink elephants a whole lot. She really did pity him. At some point she’d offered to leave him alone, but he’d insisted she stay, explaining he needed her there so he could get a better grip on how her new power worked in order to figure out how best to reverse it. 

She agreed and he put her through the paces, having her stand in different areas of the lab to measure its range and having her try on different headpieces to see if they could dampen the power. At one point Donnie had wondered aloud if whatever particle waves thoughts used to travel might be affected by water, similar to sound waves. Game for anything at this point, April had let him fill up a bucket and then plunged her head in. 

As she held her breath under the water, she heard his voice echoing through her head. _See any dinglehoppers down there, Ariel?_

She burst out laughing before she could surface. She was still giggling when she heard another voice in her head. 

_ What the hell are they doing in here?  _

She turned and saw Leo walking into the lab, looking perplexed. She realized they must look like a pair of loons—she was soaking wet from her shoulders on up and Donnie was still wheezing at his own joke. 

“Another ‘test’?” he asked, smiling at them in a somewhat confused manner. _I do_ not _get these two._

“Yeah, just… you know, measuring brain waves underwater. That sort of thing,” April said pleasantly. 

Leo looked between the two of them. _Yeah, ok I don’t really want to know_. “Oook. Well, I just wanted to let you know I’m gonna be gone for a little. I’ll be back in time for afternoon training.”

Donnie cocked his head “It’s still daylight. Where are you going?”

“I got a text from Karai. She feels like sparring so I’m just gonna…” he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. 

Donnie shrugged. “See ya later then.”

April waved as Leo began to retreat, but paused as a mental image suddenly came into focus: Karai, naked and clearly in the middle of receiving some _very_ intimate attention from Leo. Her eyes went round and she turned to hide her reaction. 

Holy shit. Did this mean…? She’d suspected for a while that there was something between Karai and Leo, but she never thought it had progressed this far. Her first instinct was to ask if Donnie knew about them, but on second thought, what if he didn’t and she wound up blabbing Leo’s secret? 

Carefully rearranging her face into something more neutral, she turned back around. “So, does Leo spar with Karai often?” she asked casually. 

“Uh, about once or twice a week,” Donnie said, then snorted. “He’s actually pretty whipped. They never do it here. She texts and…” he snapped his fingers. “Leo goes.” 

“Huh. So… you think he still likes her?” she was careful to keep her voice even. 

“I think it’s pretty obvious he does. The question is, does she like him?” 

April hummed noncommittally as she listened to Donnie’s thoughts turning back to the notes he was logging on his computer.

“All right, that’s all the testing I can think of for now April. Why don’t we take a break? Are you hungry?” Donnie pushed back from his desk.

“I could eat.”

“Great, I’ll call for some pizza. I don’t know what Mikey has planned for lunch, but I’m going to hazard a guess you won’t want it.” 

“Sounds good.” 

Donnie hesitated, but it was no good. April could hear his thoughts before he opened his mouth: _We have training after lunch. Should I invite her… is she up to it?_

“I’ll try,” she answered him. 

He cringed. “Sorry. Still getting used to it. You don’t have to, you know, train with us if you’re concerned about, well, you know.”

“Thanks, but I probably should try,” April shrugged. “It’d look weird if I didn’t.”

_She’s such a trooper. Sorry. You’re such a trooper._ Donnie smiled. 

April smiled back, and a small part of her wished she could send a mental message back. She had a brief fantasy of the two of them sitting silently together, talking back and forth in their minds. It was… strangely intimate. 

She blinked and cleared her head. “So, pizza?” 

* * *

April stretched quietly by herself as she prepared to train with the guys. She had butterflies in her stomach; since arriving, she’d been careful not to spend too much time with any of them besides Donnie, and after learning about Leo’s extra-curriculars within seconds of being near him, she was nervous about what else she might accidentally hear. 

Already she could hear Mikey running through various nauseating flavor combinations for the pizza he was planning to make for dinner. If he committed to Sour Patch Kids and sour cream, she’d be ordering take out. 

In another corner, she could hear Raph running a mental checklist of his own stretching routine before switching to muttering in his head about Donnie being late again to training. _Even his girlfriend’s here, I don’t know what was so important in the lab that he had to make a detour._

Donnie had been struck with an idea about how to alter the machine to fix her and had run off to write it down before training, but Raph, of course, didn’t know this. April wondered how much time he spent complaining to himself. 

She’d been most nervous about seeing Leo again, especially if he was coming straight from Karai’s. What if he was still thinking about whatever it was they’d done together while he was there? April really didn’t fancy seeing any more scenes from his personal life. Fortunately, his mind had been primarily on his plans for training. _Maybe there really is something to all that meditation he does_ , she thought as she bent over to stretch her hamstrings. 

_ Holy… her ass looks… shit, shit sorry April! I swear, I didn’t mean to look! _

Donnie’s panicked voice drifted through her head and she jerked up and looked around to see him entering the dojo. She held up her hands and nodded, trying to silently convey that she’d accepted his apology. 

“Ah, thanks for finally joining us, Don,” Leo suddenly spoke up. “Why don’t we begin with some strength training.” 

He directed them through a mini workout of crunches, squats, push-ups, and burpees, and April was relieved to find that most inner chatter stopped when they were focused on exercise. All she could really hear in her head were their individual voices counting their reps or pushing themselves to squeeze out a few more. 

They moved on to katas and it was the same thing. She was actually pretty impressed with the boys’ mental discipline. 

At one point during a break, she heard Donnie mentally call out to her, checking to see if she was doing ok and asking if anything was getting too overwhelming. She turned toward him and gave him a quick thumbs up. _You’re doing great_ , she heard back, and her smile broadened. Seriously, when this was all said and done, she’d have to record Donnie giving her little pieces of encouragement like that. She was beginning to enjoy hearing his little ego-boosters in her head.

After katas and some time spent practicing with their weapons, Leo announced it was time to spar. April’s heart sank. Leo stuck to a regimented round robin sparring schedule and today was her turn to face Raph. She always felt ambivalent about being matched with him. One on hand, he never went soft on her like the others sometimes did, and she liked that he respected her in that way. On the other hand, he _never went soft on her_ and she was often pretty sore the day after. 

It was Leo’s turn without a partner, so he stood in the middle of the dojo while Mikey and Donnie went to one side and April and Raph to the other. 

_All right, she’s been favoring her right side a lot, so first hit’s gonna come from there. She likes to open with a kick, so be ready to block_. 

She realized Raph was trying to predict her moves, and to her great annoyance, he was right. She _had_ planned to attack with a kick from her right side. Suddenly she realized something. _Holy shit, I finally have an advantage here. Get ready for a punch from the left, Raph!_

Leo called for them to begin and she and Raph began circling each other. 

_Rile her up, mess up her concentration_ , she heard him think. 

“Come on babydoll, let’s see what ya got,” he teased. 

She grinned and dove toward him, juking right, then successfully landing a punch to his jaw with her left. She could hear his surprise and it was on. 

Fighting Raph was so much easier when she could hear him thinking through his moves and trying to anticipate hers. She managed to land a few more hits and deflect most of his. 

“Great block, April,” Leo commented from the side. _She’s doing really well today._

Raph growled and attacked her with more ferocity. It grew harder to fight him off as his thoughts became less clear and he began relying more on intuition. He landed a hard blow to her side, and she was surprised and a little touched when his internal reaction was a fleeting moment of regret and sympathy for her. It appeared there was a softer side to Mr. Hardass. 

Their fight continued. April spun and blocked and kicked, thinking she was still doing better than usual when Raph surprised her by flipping her over his shell, then pinning her to the mat, his body on her side and his arm like a bar across her chest.

“Nice moves, Ape,” he said, still holding her arms at her sides. “But if you wanna take me down, you’re gonna have to get up earlier than that. Now let’s see you escape from this.” 

April rolled her eyes and took advantage of the moment to try to catch her breath. She was panting with exertion. 

_ Ah fuck, don’t… Donnie’ll kill you if he sees you looking at those. _

April glanced up at Raph just in time to see him tear his eyes away from where he’d obviously been looking at her breasts. _Jesus Christ. Boys. They’re all the same,_ she thought. At least Raph had the decency to scold himself for it. Still… maybe she could use this.

She smirked and wiggled around beneath him, knowingly pushing her breasts against his arm while she slid one of her legs between his thighs. 

His eyes drifted back down then darted away. _What is she… is she freaking kidding right now with this?_

He quickly lifted his arm and April threw herself up and over top of him, pinning him with a loud, “HAH!” 

“Nice one April!” Leo cheered. 

She got off Raph and held her hand out to help him up. He let her, grumbling, “That was a dirty trick and you know it.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” 

He glowered at her, but his voice rang through her head. _Thatta girl_. 

She smiled and cuffed him on the shoulder. “Let’s go watch Donnie and Mikey.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. I will never be able to write a fight scene. Not even sparring. Eh. 
> 
> Next Chapter: April finds out her new power works on sleeping turtles.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a fun recipe for some awkwardness: 
> 
> 1 cup of Donnie’s feelings for April  
> 3 dashes of nosy turtles  
> 1 scoop of April’s budding feelings for Donnie  
> A pinch of telepathy
> 
> Stir together and add hormone-fueled dreams to taste. Enjoy!

“Hey Dad! I’m home!” April called as she entered her father’s apartment. 

“I’m in here, sweetheart!” he yelled from the kitchen. As she walked toward the sound of his voice, she could smell the delicious scent of her dad’s cooking. _This is just what I needed_ , she thought. She turned the corner and caught sight of Kirby carving a roast. 

“Mmmm that smells great, dad. I’ve had such a weird day.” 

_No surprise there. You’re a weird kid who hangs out with weird people. If you can even call them that._ “Oh?” 

April stopped in her tracks. She was surprised her father would think of her in such harsh terms. He’d always seemed so supportive, despite everything they’d been through. He loved her. 

“Um, yeah,” she said tentatively. “My powers have been… acting strange.” 

_Here we go again. I never thought I’d have to deal with this sort of thing. Whatever happened to my_ normal _daughter?_ “How so, honey?” His face looked concerned, making the sound of his thoughts sting even worse.

“Uh, nothing to worry about. Donnie and I are trying to… take care of it…” She tried to push through. Maybe there was something wrong with him? Or with her? He couldn’t really be thinking these things about her. He just couldn’t. 

“Well good. Donnie’s a smart boy. I’m sure he’ll be able to help you.” _Offff course. I’ve seen the way those two look at each other. Disgusting. Although I suppose I should be happy for her. It’s not like she’s going to be able to find a normal, human man who’d want to be with something like her._

“Dad, I can hear you!” April blurted out, her eyes filled with tears. “I can hear your thoughts!” 

Kirby took a step back. “What? But that’s… you can’t…”

“How could you think all that about me?” April whimpered. 

Kirby hung his head. “April, it hasn’t been easy these past few years…” _Living with a half-Kraang freak._

“...Dad?” 

He sighed. “Maybe you should just go.” _Go down and live with the other mutants. The other freaks. That’s where you belong._

April didn’t stick around to hear more. She tore out of the apartment in tears and took off down the street. She ran until she found the nearest manhole and slipped into the sewers. Why had she gone home while she was still like this? Her dad was right, she should have just stayed down here where she belonged. She let out a little sob. How was she ever going to be able to face him again, knowing what he thought of her? 

When she arrived at the lair, the turtles were gathered in front of the TV, but all four turned at the sound of her approaching footsteps. 

One by one she heard their voices in her head. 

_ She’s back again? What is with this chick? Doesn’t she have a life outside of hanging out with us? All she does is get in the way and slow us down. At least Casey can hold his own in a fight.  _

_ Poor April. She just doesn’t fit in anywhere. Not topside and not down here either. Must be such a bummer.  _

_ So much for our ninjas-only training session. Now I’m going to have to dumb everything down like I always do when she’s here. Karai was right. She’s an insult to real kunoichi.  _

_ I can’t believe I ever thought I loved her. She’s not that pretty. Not that smart. Not that funny. She’s just so… average. Unremarkable. I don’t know why I let her waste my time.  _

Hot tears slid down her face as she looked from one face to the next. She thought these were her friends. Now it felt like they were twisting knives into her gut. She finally turned to Donnie and felt as though her heart was breaking as she looked into his cold, blank eyes. 

“Donnie… how could you?” she sobbed. She took a step backward, but her foot caught on something and she fell… and kept falling… 

April shot up in her bed, still crying from her dream. Her breath was coming in short pants as she glanced around the small spare bedroom. “Fuck,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair as her breathing returned to normal. She wiped her eyes and reached for the glass on her night stand, only to find it empty. 

Maybe a quick walk to the kitchen would be good for her. Help her clear her head from that awful dream. She swung her legs out of bed and padded out of the room and across the lair. 

The mental image hit her before she noticed Mikey had fallen asleep on the couch; he was back on Fugitoid’s ship, only it looked different. Instead of the gleaming, sanitized white surfaces, the entire bridge was now a rainbow of blues, yellows, and purples. She paused for a moment, puzzled, as she watched Mikey issuing orders to Raph and Chris Bradford, who were seated together in one of the pods. 

Not exactly in the mood to linger spying on Mikey’s fantastical dream, she kept moving toward the kitchen. There was nothing to fear, she sternly reminded herself as she made her way to the sink. Training had made her realize being around the others wouldn’t be as hard as she’d thought, so she’d spent the rest of the evening with them, even when Donnie had excused himself and gone back to his lab to keep working on how he was going to fix her.

She hadn’t heard anything too incriminating or embarrassing over the course of the evening. In fact, she hadn’t heard really much of anything that upset her. She had, however, overheard a _few_ interesting things. 

Mikey thought a lot about food and finding ways to goof off, and his thoughts, she’d been pleased to find, were just as sweet as his personality would suggest. With Mikey, what you saw was what you got, and he didn’t mind at all when she gave him a big hug at the end of dinner. She’d said she wanted to thank him for the ramen, but secretly, she also wanted to thank him for thinking her hair looked pretty down (she’d come to dinner straight from having showered), among the other warm fuzzies he’d been mentally broadcasting.

Raph was a little more complicated. It was interesting seeing how hair-trigger his thoughts usually were, but it was even more fascinating to see how quickly he often regretted snapping at his brothers.

Perhaps more than anything, she was pleased to hear he thought she’d been doing well in training—and in fact, he had approached her after dinner while she was doing to the dishes to tell her so. 

“Hey, I thought you should know that, even with what you pulled at the end there, you did really well today,” he’d said as he gave her his plate. 

“Thanks,” April said, smiling as she listened to him debate in his head whether he wanted to continue this discussion. 

Finally, he cleared his throat and leaned in toward her. “Actually, that stunt… the thing you did when I had you pinned,” he said quietly, “That was a good move. You took advantage of your resources and were able to catch me off guard.”

“How’d April catch you off guard?” 

Raph jumped a little, having not noticed Leo was now standing right behind him. April caught a mental glimpse of herself pushing her chest into Raph’s arm and took it to mean Leo had seen the whole thing. The snarky grin playing across his face confirmed it. 

“Eh, she just… made good use of her assets,” Raph said gruffly and walked away, complaining in his head about Leo always butting in.

Leo watched him go, then turned back to April. “He’s right. I saw what you did. It was a good move.” _Like something Karai would have done._

“You didn’t think it was a cheap shot?” April asked. 

“No. It was unorthodox, sure, but sometimes you have to fight outside the box,” he shrugged. “We’re not kids anymore. And kunoichi have, uh, weapons in their arsenal that ninjas don’t. Don’t be afraid to use them.” His cheeks were a little pink. _Is this inappropriate? It feels weird. Like it’s just an excuse to talk about her breasts. It’s the truth though, and she should be aware of it._

She decided to put him out of his misery. “Thanks, Leo,” she said warmly, then nodded to the dishes. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you go join the others.”

_Oh thank god._ He nodded and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder before leaving.

As the night had continued, she’d made another discovery: all three of Donnie’s brothers suspected there was more to hers and Donnie’s relationship than just friendship. Raph had referred to her as ‘Donnie’s girlfriend’ a few times in his head, and when Donnie had left to go back to the lab, Leo’s eyes had cut over to her. She’d heard him wonder if she would be following Donnie and if they’d ever done more than _just_ make out in the lab. She wondered if he was suspicious simply because he was involved in his own secret relationship. He’d thought about Karai multiple times throughout the night—thankfully nothing too explicit—and April couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. She wasn’t sure why he was keeping this from everyone. She didn’t think any of the others would have condemned him for it. Maybe he just wanted something that was just for himself. 

Back in the present, as she filled her water glass, she thought about earlier that morning. Mikey had also thought she and Donnie were making out in the lab. Did all three of them think Donnie and her were regularly hooking up whenever they shut the lab door? 

She took a sip and leaned against the counter. She wasn’t sure how she felt about all this. Obviously, she wasn’t able to respond to any of these accusations, but she was a little surprised that she wasn’t itching to do so. It didn’t bother her that they all seemed to think she and Donnie were already together. Maybe because she liked that idea herself. Donnie’s rejection had been one of the most upsetting parts of her dream, second only to hearing her father’s thoughts. 

She could understand why the others might think they’d already crossed the line into being a couple. The two of them spent a lot of time alone together, often behind closed doors. When they all sat down together, she usually chose a seat next to Donnie or vice versa. When they stayed up late watching a movie, she often snuggled up to him, sometimes laying her head on his shoulder. Now that she thought about it all, she wasn’t surprised in the least that the others were able to suss out that there was something there. 

She pushed off the counter with a sigh and began walking back to her room. It was too late and she was too tired to try to figure this out tonight. She needed to go back to bed so she was rested and ready to try to help Donnie fix this tomorrow. 

Speaking of Donnie, she noticed the lights in his lab were still on. Ignoring Mikey’s ongoing dream, in which he was now directing a recalcitrant Bradford to perform a space walk, she snuck up the stairs and through the door. She spotted Donnie across the lab, snoring softly at his computer and smiled. He was working so hard for her. Having decided to wake him up so he could go sleep in his room, she began to walk toward him, but stopped after a few feet when she was hit with a mental image from an entirely different dream. 

She could see herself splayed out on a bed that she recognized as Donnie’s… and she was naked. But… her body looked slightly off. Her breasts were a bit larger, her upper thighs had more freckles than they actually did, and oddly enough her pubic hair was a little different—slightly bushier than it was in real life. She gasped softly as it dawned on her what she was seeing. 

This is what she looked like in Donnie’s dream and she supposed it made sense—he’d never seen her naked so this must be his mind filling in some blanks. The image blurred slightly and now Donnie was with her. Their arms wrapped around each other as their lips met over and over again. 

April’s breath hitched. She shouldn't be seeing this. This was private and she should leave. But… she felt rooted to the spot. She kept watching as Donnie rolled on top of her in the dream and began moving against her. The dream version of herself wrapped her legs around his hips and ground herself against him, making both of them moan. _Oh god, April…_

Her pulse quickened and April felt a strong throb between her legs as she watched Donnie thrusting against her in the dream. This was… intimate. And as tempting as it was to stay and watch, she knew it was wrong. She needed to go before things got even more invasive and inappropriate. She forced herself to move, backing up as quietly as possible until the image of Donnie, now grabbing her ass and raising her hips, faded, then hightailed it back to her room so quickly Mikey’s dream barely registered as she whisked by. 

When she was safe inside, she set her glass of water down and flung herself back in bed. Her heart was still pounding and she couldn’t get Donnie’s dream out of her head. She wondered how often he dreamt about the two of them. 

She turned over, trying to decide how she felt about it all. The turtles assuming she and Donnie were together. Donnie’s dream. She didn’t mind any of it… and she knew the reason why: She enjoyed entertaining those thoughts as well. She was already tucking the memory of Donnie’s dream safely away to be trotted back out again the next time she was in the mood for a little solo action.

April had realized months ago that the strong feelings she had for Donnie went beyond what was typical to feel for one’s best friend. Whenever something happened, he was the first one she wanted to tell. When she was upset, he was the one she wanted to seek comfort from. He was her gold standard: there was no one she felt more comfortable around, no one as smart, no one as funny, no one who made her feel more like she was being her best self. That’s what best friends do… but that’s also what good partners do. 

Ok, so yes, she liked Donnie. And maybe she was ready to finally take that step. She thought back to what she’d just seen in the lab. Yeeeah, she was ready. That had been seriously hot. But this wasn’t the right time. Maybe once they fixed her she could revisit this and maybe they could finally figure things out. Until then, they needed to focus on putting her head back to normal. 

She turned once more onto her back and attempted to clear her mind to let sleep come. She wound up waiting for quite a while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Donnie and April continue trying to put things back to normal and Donnie finally has a meltdown moment over this whole business.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April and Donnie continue working toward fixing her. Annnnd April accidentally triggers a Donnie break down.

_Did you hear oxygen went on a date with potassium? It went OK._

April giggled, then sighed. 

“All right, guess that didn’t work. Let’s try this…”

Donnie turned back to the machine and continued to fiddle with the various instruments he now had attached to it. They’d been at it for hours now, starting immediately after their morning training session. 

Before falling asleep at his computer, Donnie had managed to perform an overhaul on the machine and the headpiece, and now he and April were back to work, trying to put her brain back to normal. Since this mostly consisted of Donnie making adjustments then mentally asking April if she could still hear him, it had quickly gotten a little boring on her end. Important work, yes, but not exactly stimulating. 

Donnie must have realized this, because after a couple hours, he’d started mentally telling her jokes in place of repeating “Can you hear me now?” over and over. 

“All right…” _Why shouldn’t you trust atoms? Because they make up everything!_

April snorted. She was impressed by the sheer number of science-related jokes Donnie seemed to know… even if she sometimes needed to glance at his poster of the periodic table to get them. Still, as entertained as he was keeping her, it was hard not to start feeling a little discouraged after nearly three hours of failure. And as hard as he tried to hide it, she could tell Donnie was starting to lose it too. His thoughts, which had been a lot more excited when they’d first started, had devolved into exasperated theories and curse words. 

_What’s the difference between a male chemist and a female chemist? An iron deficiency._

“Oh boy, Donnie.”

“I _like_ that one,” he said defensively, then slumped. _Fuck, this is becoming harder than I originally thought_. “I don’t know, April. I feel like I’m starting to hit a wall here. Ok if we take a break?” 

“Absolutely,” April said, feeling equal parts relieved and disappointed as she tugged the head piece off of her. She winced as a piece of her hair caught in it. 

_Shit, that’s not good_. “Oh, hang on…” Donnie darted forward to help her. She held still while he gently worked her hair from where it had gotten caught. _God, her hair is so soft… sorry, I mean, your hair is really soft. It’s nice._ He smiled awkwardly and lifted the now freed head piece away from her and April forced herself not to melt into a puddle of goo. 

“Thanks. For both the rescue and the compliment.”

“Always happy to assist.” He turned around and brushed off his hands. _What time is it? I wonder if we missed lunch?_

“I’m feeling a little hungry,” April shrugged. “Kitchen?” 

“You read my mind,” he joked. “Let me clean up here and I’ll meet you there.” 

April nodded and made her way to the kitchen, happy to give him a little mental space. She knew no matter how long she’d been like this, it still couldn’t be easy to have to control your thoughts around someone for so long. 

To his credit, Donnie was doing a good job. He’d stayed focused on the task at hand and his mind had only wandered a few times. And he hadn’t thought about the dream he’d had the night before. Maybe he didn’t remember it, she reasoned. Either way, she wasn’t about to bring it up. In the light of day, she was feeling a little guilty about having watched something so private. 

She rummaged through the fridge and cabinets and came up with enough supplies to make sandwiches. She set about making one for her and two for Donnie, while reflecting that it was nice to have some quiet in her head. Some time to think. That moment back in the lab just now, when she’d felt Donnie’s fingers in her hair… it had been nice. Too nice, and a little part of her had been tempted to grab him and kiss him while he was right in front of her face. 

But she was still determined to wait. If she was going to kiss Donnie, _really_ kiss him, she wanted him to be able to enjoy it. Sure, the initial contact might temporarily short out his brain, but then his thoughts would come back, and she was worried he’d get mentally distracted trying to manage his thoughts for her. She wanted their kiss to be stress-free. Her powers should be the last thing on their minds while they kissed. 

Fifteen minutes later, she heard his footsteps approaching the kitchen, followed shortly by his thoughts. _… feel fucking exhausted. Ok… shields up. No more April thoughts. Oh, she made me sandwiches?_ “Those look good,” he commented as he entered the kitchen. 

“Enjoy,” she said, pushing a plate toward him. 

“Thanks.” 

As he sat down next to her, she heard his thoughts begin to jumble. His mind was buzzing over what he should talk about, being nervous about what she might overhear, and still being preoccupied with other ideas on how to fix her. 

“Donnie,” she said quietly and put a hand over his. “You don’t have to sit with me. I get it. You can go eat in your lab if you want a little peace.” 

_I don’t want you to feel like I’m abandoning you. I like being with you. I—_

“I’m fine. I’m not offended. I promise,” she said warmly. 

_She seems sincere._ His shoulders slumped. “Thanks. That… that might be helpful.”

She squeezed his hand once, earning an unintelligible little sound of mental joy from him before he got up. But just as he picked up his plate, she heard Leo’s voice in her head. 

_Here they are._

She turned to see Leo step into the kitchen. 

“Hey guys,” he said. “Since it’s been so slow out there recently, I was thinking we’d skip afternoon training and do some topside training tonight instead.” 

April and Donnie exchanged a look. _You don’t want to go up there, do you?_ she heard him ask, and she shook her head slightly. _Ok, I got this._

“Uh, that’s great Leo, but April and I are on the cusp of making a breakthrough. Cool if we sit tonight out?” 

Leo looked between them. _I knew they were up to something. Are they skipping tonight so they can take advantage of an empty lair? Can’t they just wait and go to April’s dorm?_ “Are you sure?” he said slowly. 

“Positive,” April said firmly. 

_Ergh, they just better clean up after themselves._ “Ok, fine, but you better be ready to make up for it tomorrow.” He turned and walked out. 

“Glad that worked out,” Donnie said, turning back toward her. 

“Yep,” she said simply, not ready to share the fact that Leo now assumed she and Donnie would be banging all over the lair tonight. 

* * *

Several hours later, April was hooked up to the machine again. _I think we’re getting closer,_ Donnie told her mentally as he squinted at his laptop, which he had now hooked up to the machine in order to gather more data. 

He typed something in and flicked a few switches. _How about now?_

“Nope.” 

_Ok, ok. But we’re getting there. I can at least chart your brain activity now, so I don’t have to stab in the dark as much._

“Do you think you’ll crack it tonight?” April asked hopefully. 

_Honestly, probably not. But, maybe tomorrow, or the next day. I don’t think it’s going to take that much longer._

April sighed and pulled out her phone to check the time as she listened to Donnie doing equations in his head. Suddenly, something struck her and she smiled. “Hey Donnie.” 

_What?_

“Do you realize you haven’t said a word to me in over an hour?”

_What are you talking about? I’ve been talking to you this entire time._

“Not out loud.” She grinned as he spun around. “You’ve just been talking to me in your head.”

Donnie blinked and she listened as he backtracked through the last hour. “Huh. I didn’t realize I was doing that. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I don’t mind,” April waved him off. 

Donnie leaned back on his desk. “I guess I’ve gotten more used to it than I thought. That’s weird, isn’t it?” _It is, right?_

“I don’t think so. If anything, it’s… kind of nice,” April said. “I kind of like hearing you in here,” she pointed to her temple. 

Donnie blushed faintly. _Don’t think about how much you like her, ah, shit. Pink elephant, pink elephant. Sorry._

April smiled and looked down. “Donnie, it’s fine. It doesn’t bother me. Your thoughts… you have some of my favorite thoughts to hear around here.” She slowly removed the device from her head and sat back.

Donnie grinned widely. _Oh yeah?_ “Who else has thoughts you like?” 

“Mikey. He is just… the warmest, gooiest cinnamon bun in that head of his,” she smiled up at him. “Seriously, he hasn’t had a mean or negative thought since this all started.” 

_I believe it._ “That sounds like him,” Donnie said with a smile. “How’s it been? Hearing my brothers? Any… surprises?” 

April grimaced playfully. “Oh, there were a few things. Nothing bad,” she quickly added when Donnie raised his brow. “You guys are all pretty good eggs.”

_Even Raph?_

“Even Raph.”

She caught a quick mental image of her sparring with Raph and she understood that Donnie had been keeping an eye on her the day before. Fortunately,he didn’t seem to have seen how the match ended. “Fighting Raph gets a lot easier when you know what he’s going to do next,” she said. 

“Any other revelations?” he asked, feigning casualness, as if she couldn’t hear him loudly begging her in his head to spill what else she’d heard. 

She chuckled. “Come on, that’s not fair, Donnie.”

“You can’t blame me for being curious.” He pulled a chair around and sat down facing her. _Come on, give me something._

She hesitated, then leaned in. “Ok, I’ll tell you a couple things. Raph? He’s not as angry with you guys as you’d think. He almost always feels immediately sorry about how he talks to you. Even if he doesn’t say it.”

_I knew it. What else?_

“Ok, you’re totally right—Leo likes Karai. Like… a lot.”

Donnie grinned. “Does he think about her a lot?” 

April nodded. She figured this was safe to divulge since Donnie had pretty much figured it out on his own anyway. 

“Are they… together?” he asked. 

April lifted her nose and looked away. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.”

 _Oh my god, that means they are. April!_

She burst out laughing. “That’s not my secret to reveal, Don!” 

“Aw, come on, Mikey, Raph, and I all think they already are! That’s why Leo’s always sneaking out of here to see her!” 

She kept laughing. “You boys are terrible! You know, all your brothers think the same thing about us!” 

_Wait, what?_

Oh. Oh, shit. She hadn’t meant to tell him that. She could practically hear the record scratching on their conversation.

“What do you mean, April?” _Do they think we’re together?_ She could feel his emotions rolling off of him—a heart-wrenching mix of hope and despair. 

“Y-yeah,” she said softly. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. “Raph refers to me as your girlfriend in his head. Mikey and Leo think we kiss in here when the doors are shut. And Leo… Leo thinks we’re skipping tonight in order to have sex.” 

She saw a brief mental image of her and Donnie making out on the sofa in the pit. Donnie had one hand in her hair, the other massaged her breast… they looked happy, but it blinked out of existence as Donnie’s thoughts began to race. _They all see it. They all think it. Fuck. Why doesn’t she…? Sorry… pink elephant, pink elephant._

“Donnie, I…” April wasn’t sure what to say. She felt awful for messing up what had been a fun time. She could hear Donnie still struggling to control his thoughts. _Get it together… be realistic… fuuuuck. Pink elephant, pink elephant, uh, 3.141592, uh, 653589793238..._

This was getting bad. “I should go,” she said quietly, and stood up. 

“Wait.” Donnie grabbed her wrist and stood with her. “It’s just…” _I know you know I feel about you._ He gazed down at her, and she felt her heart throb at the intensity in his sad eyes. “You didn’t need to be able to read my mind to know. I just… I’m sorry if my thoughts or my brothers’ thoughts made you feel uncomfortable.”

April shook her head. “They didn’t.”

“Not even some of my mental images?” _You're a fucking creep and now she knows it._ “When you just told me what Leo and Mikey think, I couldn’t stop myself. I know that couldn’t…”

“I didn’t mind,” April cut him off. 

_She probably thinks you’re a pervert._

“I don’t! Donnie, I don’t blame…”

_I’m sorry… I’m trying to control myself… but I can’t stop how I feel about you._

April took a shaky breath. “I don’t want you to,” she whispered. 

Donnie was looking down at her, a pained expression in his face. _Don’t. You don’t have to do that. Just…_ “April,” he said weakly. 

April struggled with what to say. She thought she knew how she felt, but this wasn’t the right time. Not now. “Donnie,” she said, shaking her head. “We can’t…”

_I knew it. She could never want you._

“No. That’s not…” Fuck, this was not going well. She pressed a hand to his plastron. “What I meant was, we shouldn’t talk about this now.” She chose her words carefully. “It’s not fair. To you. I shouldn’t be able to hear your thoughts. It’s like I’m cheating somehow. I have this weird advantage over you and it’s not right. If you could hear my thoughts, maybe it’d be more fair, but. If we talk about this… when we talk about this, I shouldn’t be able to hear your reactions. We should be on the same playing field. Does that make any sense?” 

Donnie nodded and swallowed hard. “I think… I think you should go. For now,” he said shakily. “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere tonight.” _Come on, April. Give me a break here._

“Ok. I’ll go,” April nodded. It was hurting her, seeing and hearing his pain. All because of her. She took a step back and hesitated, still trying to find the right words. “Donnie…” her voice cracked. 

“I know, I know. It’s not your fault,” he muttered. _It’s mine and I’m sorry and I’m pushing her away and what is fucking wrong with me?_ “I just need a mental break.” _Please_. 

* * *

April laid in bed, listening to the sound of the other three turtles coming home. They were too far away and through too many walls to hear their thoughts, but she could hear them calling out to Donnie and asking him in teasing voices how his night had been. She rolled her eyes. How likely was it the three of them had spent the night discussing what she and Donnie might have been doing alone in the lair? 

After she’d left Donnie in his lab, she’d retreated to her room and sat on the bed, determined to force herself to think things through. This had to stop. She couldn’t keep putting things off, waiting for the right time. What did that even mean—the right time? 

Ok, admittedly now was definitely the wrong time. She’d meant what she said. If she and Donnie were going to have some kind of all important, state of the union type discussion about where they stood with each other, she shouldn’t be able to hear his thoughts. But he’d said he almost had it cracked. A day or two at most. Then what? What would be her excuse then? 

There was never going to be some perfect, shiny moment. If the past six years had taught her anything, she had no idea what might be around the corner. 

She let out a deep breath. When this was all over, she was coming clean. No more waiting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? It couldn’t be smooth sailing the whole way through! 
> 
> Next Chapter: April’s powers aren’t the only things getting fixed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie manages to fix April... and it’s time for her to come clean.
> 
> And yeah, she’s totally gonna kiss that turtle.

The next morning, April stopped by the kitchen to gather cups of coffee and packets of pop tarts before setting out for the lab. She was nervous after the previous night, and not just because of how she and Donnie had left things. Last night she’d decided she would finally tell him. Once she was back to normal, of course. 

Now that she’d made that decision, it was as if an entirely new section of her brain had opened up. The I-like-Donnie-and-we’re-totally-going-to-be-together wing, which until now she’d kept firmly cordoned off behind a mental velvet rope. Once in a while she’d catch glimpses of what lay beyond it, but now it was wide open for visitors and it was already affecting her. She’d dreamt of the two of them last night—a dream not unlike the one she’d caught Donnie in the middle of—and she’d woken up feeling hot and needy. Yeah. She was definitely making the right choice here. 

Her stomach exploded with butterflies as she walked into the lab and saw Donnie sitting at his computer. She was suddenly very thankful he couldn’t hear her thoughts. 

_Ok, be calm. Don’t bring up last night. Just play it cool,_ she heard him think as he looked up at her. 

“Hey,” she said quietly as she approached him with a small smile she hoped somehow communicated that she was fine. That _they_ were fine. That this was _all_ going to be fine. That they were Donnie And April, and if they could survive her atomically disintegrating him, they could survive a rough night in the lab. 

“Hey.” 

She didn’t catch any words, just a warm, sunny abstract feeling and a mental image of her face mirrored back to her, and she was relieved that he wasn’t harboring any resentment from the night before. 

“Um… here, I brought you some breakfast,” she said, placing the coffee and pop tarts on the table next to him like the peace offering that it totally was. 

_You’re the best. I mean it._ Donnie grinned gratefully and snatched a packet of pop tarts. “So good news,” he said in between bites. “I’m 99% sure I’ve got this figured out. I stayed up half the night, but I think this is it. When you’re ready, we can try.” 

“Wow. Ok, yeah,” April said. “I’m game if you are.” She was excited, but tried to keep her hopes in check. Just in case.

Donnie stuffed the last of the pop tarts in his mouth and wiped away the crumbs. _Let’s get you hooked up,_ he thought at her as he washed it all down with a sip of his coffee. 

April made her way to the chair and sat down. _This could be it_ , she thought to herself. _And if he fixes you, you know what that means. No more putting things off. No more delaying. We tell him today._ Her stomach flipped as she thought about what that would mean. There was a strong chance that by the time she went to bed tonight, she might be Donatello’s girlfriend. If this worked, that is. _So, no pressure Donnie,_ she thought manically. 

She sat still as he gently placed the device on her head and hooked it up to the machine. But before he could flick any switches, a thought crossed her mind. She was going to miss hearing him in her head. Not that she’d miss hearing his _every_ thought, but it had been nice, hearing some of the things he’d said to her or about her. She’d liked the way he’d mentally talk to her—it was special. Intimate. 

“Wait.” 

Donnie turned and looked at her. “Everything ok?” 

April looked into his eyes and wondered if he’d think she was crazy for what she was about to ask. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just. If this works, I won’t hear you in here anymore,” she pointed to her head. “I guess I just realized I’m going to miss that.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s weird right?”

Donnie beamed down at her. _God, could she be any more adorable? Sorry… I meant. Well, you know._ He looked down and laughed under his breath. “You’re killing me here, O’Neil.” 

“Sorry, I know it’s weird. And I know this hasn’t been a picnic for you either. And I know it sounds a little selfish, but I guess I just wanted to hear you talk to me in here one last time. You know, in case this works.” Her heart fluttered a little as she smiled up at him. 

_Like this? You just wanted to hear me talk to you again?_ His face was difficult to read as he looked down at her. 

She nodded. 

_Ok… April, this has honestly been one of the strangest things we’ve been through together. Which is saying a lot. But, well, I guess you didn’t hear too much you weren’t already aware of. And you know what? It_ has _been weirdly nice to be able to talk to you like this. I liked having this connection with you._ He blushed and smiled shyly. 

April reached out and grabbed his hand. “Thanks, Donnie,” she whispered. 

_ Of course. Ok. Are you ready? _

She nodded and he turned the machine on and began flipping switches. The humming started up, but it was different—lower in pitch and there was a pulsing to it. 

_Come on, we’ve got this_. 

The humming got louder and louder and April squeezed her eyes shut as her ears began to ring from the noise. “Donnie…!” she cried as she felt a strange tingling sensation begin to prickle at her scalp. She heard nothing back, only a loud clanging noise, then silence. 

Slowly, gingerly, she opened her eyes. Donnie was squatting in front of her with a hand on her knee. He stared intensely into her eyes, a hopeful expression on his face. 

“Donnie?” 

After a second, his mouth pulled into a grin. “It worked!” 

“Are you sure?” 

He stood up and lifted the device from her head. “Oh yeah. I just mentally said something to you that definitely would have gotten a reaction.”

She paused and listened. The only thoughts in her head were her own. “You’re right!” she squealed. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you! Donnie, you’re the best!” 

He hugged her back. “I’m as relieved as you are. You don’t know how bad I felt about all this. Well, maybe you had some idea,” he chuckled. 

“Donnie, really. Thank you,” April pulled herself up a little and kissed him on the cheek before letting him go. 

“Boy, really glad you can’t hear my thoughts right now,” he said with a dorky little laugh. 

“I’m sure it’s a relief,” April said. “But I meant what I said yesterday. You had some of my favorite thoughts. I liked hearing them.” 

“All of them?” He arched a brow. 

“Hmmm,” she pretended to think. “About 95% of them. You know, I actually feel kind of bad you never got to hear any of my thoughts.”

Donnie let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, you say that now.”

“I’m telling the truth!”

He shook his head, still smiling. “Ok then, what would I have heard? ‘Damn it, Donnie! You need to stop experimenting on me!’ Or maybe, ‘Jesus, Don, you’re such a perv!’” He threw his arms up in mock offense. 

April leaned forward. “How about ‘Wow, I really like Donnie. He’s smart and funny, and he cares about me a whole lot. I’m really lucky to have him in my life.’” She paused and took a deep breath. _Do it now. You promised yourself._ “And… and maybe ‘I really, really like Donnie. Like… way more than like.”

Donnie looked stunned. “W-what?”

_Well, no sense in stopping now,_ April thought, and plowed on. “I know you thought I might be upset over what you were thinking about me or some of the mental images you were projecting, but I wasn’t. Not at all. I… I liked hearing that. And I liked hearing how your brothers think we’re together. Because… I like that idea too. And now that I can’t spy on your thoughts anymore, I feel like I can talk to you about it without feeling like I have this weird upper hand.” 

She stepped forward and grabbed both of Donnie’s hands in hers. She could feel he was shaking a little and for a fleeting instant she wished she could hear his thoughts again, because he wasn’t saying anything. She fought the urge to laugh—she’d finally done the impossible and rendered Donnie speechless. 

“Talk to me, Don,” she said, squeezing his fingers. “I can’t read your mind anymore.” 

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “You… you like me?” His voice sounded unsteady, like he was half-expecting her to pull the rug out from under him at any moment. 

April just grinned and nodded. “Yeah. A lot.”

“That… well that’s… heh,” he rocked on his heels and smiled. “I like you too. Uh, obviously.”

“I know,” April said quietly. It was becoming apparent words were failing both of them at the moment and she decided that perhaps actions were better. She let go of his hands and instead wrapped her arms around his neck, gently pulling him down. He had a look on his face like he was holding a bomb that might go off at the slightest jostle. She felt him place his hands tentatively on her waist, seemingly still afraid she might reject him. As if. 

When their faces were inches apart, his eyes slid shut and he quietly sighed her name. She hummed and closed the distance, molding her lips to his just as she’d seen herself do in his mind. 

It’d been years since she’d last kissed him properly, on the lips, and she’d almost forgotten how nice his mouth felt against hers. She tilted her head and deepened the kiss and felt his hands tighten on her waist as she flicked her tongue against his. She didn’t have to reach out, she could feel his emotions rippling over her. Relief. Desire. Love. 

She caught hold of his holster and began dragging him with her toward his lab table. If this registered or not to Donnie, she had no clue. He only continued kissing her, refusing to break away even as they shuffled across the lab. 

When her back hit the table, she pulled away from Donnie and pushed herself up to sit on its surface. Donnie stared at her, punch drunk, as she grabbed him by the edges of his plastron and pulled him into her again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you thought of it the other day,” she said, running her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. 

“I… yeah?” Donnie blinked. “Honestly, I’ve thought about this a lot.”

“Mmm, I have too,” April sighed, and pulled him in for another kiss. 

He moved his lips against hers and brought a hand up to play with her ponytail. “Ok, now I _really_ wish I could have read your mind,” he muttered against her lips. “You were thinking about us too?” 

“More than you can imagine.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “Then why did you wait? Last night… we could have…” He jerked his head back a little with wide eyes. “I mean, not that I’m complaining. Perfectly happy we’re doing this now. Just… curious.”

April hummed and reached behind him to wrap her fingers in the tails of his mask. “I know. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I made you wait. Especially the last twelve or so hours. But I meant what I said last night. It wouldn’t have been fair to you. Can you imagine—me telling you how I felt and you having to react, knowing I’d hear your every thought?” 

“Ehhh, I see what you mean.” 

“Plus,” she continued, “I knew there was no way I’d be able to tell you how I felt and _not_ kiss you. Like, it just wasn’t going to happen.” She paused and they both grinned. “And… I wanted you to enjoy that kiss. Without having to worry about me hearing your thoughts.” 

Donnie chuckled under his breath. “Well, in case you’re curious, they’re very happy thoughts.”

She raised a brow. “And you’d be happy with me hearing _all_ of them?” 

He grimaced playfully. “Yeah ok, there may be a few, uh, rather sordid ones I’d rather just keep to myself.”

She laughed against him and pulled him in for another kiss, wondering if it’d be ok to take the next step and encourage him to touch her. No rush, she’d be more than happy to kiss him all day, no further action needed… but she’d also really like to feel his hands on more of her body. The flashbacks she was having to all those mental images of the two of them groping each other weren’t exactly helping either. 

She was just about to ask him if he’d like to touch her, when they heard footsteps approaching and pulled apart. They’d both forgotten it was only about nine in the morning, and Donnie’s brothers were up and about. 

There was just enough time for Donnie to take a step back from the table before Mikey wandered into the lab. 

“Good morning, good morning!” he called, looking back and forth between the two of them with a shit-eating grin. 

“Mikey,” Donnie greeted him without enthusiasm. 

“So what are you two up to today?” Mike leaned on his elbow next to April. “A little private time in the lab?”

April chuckled. “Actually, we were just wrapping something up.” 

“Uh huh. Well, just wanted to let you know there’s still some gummy worm pancakes in the kitchen if y’all are hungry.”

“We’ll pass,” they said in unison. 

“Your loss, muchachos,” he called over his shoulder as he left the lab.

Once he was gone, Donnie turned back to her. “Think he saw us?” 

April shrugged and hopped down from the table. “Does it really matter? They all think we’ve been hooking up in here for months now.”

“Hmm, you have a point.”

They grinned at each other, still riding the high. April wondered what he was thinking. It was strange how quickly she’d become accustomed to having all that extra insight into Donnie. 

“What are you thinking about?” Donnie asked her. 

“Just wondering what _you’re_ thinking,” she said. 

“Miss it already?”

“A little. I told you I’d miss hearing your voice in here,” she said. “Even if it was kind of cheating.”

“Yeah, you did have me at a disadvantage,” he joked. “Can’t say I regret it though,” he added. “Especially if this was the end result.” He reached out and soothed a stray hair behind her ear, and April shivered. 

“Definitely. So, how about this,” she said, closing the distance between their bodies again. “Going forward, we’re upfront about our thoughts. When it comes to each other, anyway.”

“April, I’ve always been more or less upfront with you,” he said kindly. 

She craned her neck up and kissed him on the underside of his jaw, enjoying the way his head tilted back for her and he groaned quietly. “Ok. _I_ promise to be more upfront with you.” She went up on her toes and kissed him again, admiring the way their mouths fit together as he responded to her. Suddenly she pulled back. “Wait a second, there’s something I’d like to know.”

His eyes opened lazily. “Anything.”

“What did you say to me, just now after you fixed me? The thing you said would have gotten a reaction out of me?”

Donnie ducked his head and chuckled. “I said, ‘Can you hear me in there, princess?’ I know you don’t like…”

She cut him off with another kiss. “You’re right. I don’t usually like being called that. But you know what, since you just fixed me, I’m fine right now with you calling me anything.”

“Oh really?” he raised a brow playfully. “My sweet chinchilla?” 

“You’re pushing it.”

“Light of my life, fire of my loins.”

“Ok, now you’re just being gross.”

Donnie hesitated and she could see him gearing up to take a big swing. “How about girlfriend?” She could hear the nerves in his voice. 

“I like that one,” she said with a smile, and pulled him into her again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Finishes writing another sticky sweet ending for these two nerds* 
> 
> “Hmm. That’s a pretty good place to end. I should just leave it at that.”
> 
> Voice in My Head: You should make them bang.
> 
> “Or not. This ending stands on its own.” 
> 
> *Stares at self in mirror for five seconds, then shrugs.*
> 
> Next Chapter: They bang.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What can I say? It’s smut time. Now that they’re officially together, Donnie and April are having a hard time keeping their hands off each other.
> 
> **Art Alert!!!**
> 
> The ever-amazing Dubpubs drew several scenes from this fic and holy cow I love them so much. Check them out [here](https://gan-man.tumblr.com/post/637963348924907520/these-are-all-scenes-from-wallbanger2008s-fic)! 

Looking back, it was almost laughable that she ever believed that they—that she—would be able to wait longer than a week before they finally had sex. She wasn’t entirely sure why she should care. Did it really matter? Society might say she was letting them move too fast. But society would also say she shouldn’t want to fuck a mutant turtle. So screw society. 

She should have known before the end of that first day that they weren’t going to be able to take things slow. They’d spent most of the day in a lip lock, surfacing only to make it to training and eat. And honestly, they had a pretty hard time focusing on both. By the end of training, Leo, still a little miffed that they’d skipped out on the night before, had reamed Donnie out about half-assing his way through things. “You need to pull your head out of the clouds and not let your girlfriend distract you,” he’d lectured, not seeming to realize that for the first time ever, Donnie hadn’t automatically corrected him with, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

They’d gone back and forth in between make out sessions over how they should break the news to his brothers before ultimately deciding they wouldn’t. Thanks to April’s short-lived powers, they realized they didn’t need to. They’d put this theory to the test the second night when, as April prepared to go back to her dorm, she’d kissed Donnie in full view of everyone. 

Other than Raph grumbling that they ought to get a room, there were no comments, no cries of surprise. She’d asked Donnie later if his brothers had made any comments after she left, and he’d said no. It seemed that the two of them had indeed been the last to know that as far as everyone else was concerned, they were together. 

April had returned to school (showered) and life had gone back to normal. Except for the fact that she and Donnie had spent every night for the last four nights attached at the mouth—and other places. Not that they had _all_ the time in the world. April still had homework and they both had patrol duties, but the time they did have together was spent frantically trying to make up for the months (and in Donnie’s case years) they’d wasted being apart. 

And April would have it no other way. She didn’t exactly have a ton of experience, but even so, she knew there wasn’t a boy in the world who could make her feel like Donnie did. He held her like he was afraid she was about to be pulled from his arms. His hands roamed over her body like he was trying to map and memorize every square inch of her—and for all she knew, he probably was. He made her feel like she was the most precious thing he’d ever touched. 

Those first couple nights, they’d laid in each other’s beds and rubbed against each other, sighing at the pleasure of just being able to touch and hold each other. But it wasn’t long before hands and mouths started wandering. Donnie had run his large hands up her sides and over her breasts, his big fingers easily encompassing her mounds as he explored and played with them. It was times like these that she missed hearing his voice in her head. 

Fortunately, Donnie had let her know in no uncertain terms what he thought of her and her body. He moaned her praises as he cupped her breasts outside of her shirt, then later skin to skin, telling her how utterly perfect she was as he pulled her nipple into his mouth. He told her how sexy he thought she was as he drove his thigh between her legs and held her as she rubbed herself along the strong muscle there until she was whimpering against him. 

They took it in turns, exploring each other’s bodies. April let her fingertips run along his plastron, dipping in and out of every crevice, smoothing against the edges, and discovering the sensitive skin the lurked just under the lip that when she raked her fingernails gently against it, made Donnie hum and churr deeply. 

Their hands eventually drifted south and April had come for him with her thighs clamped around his hand, the pad of his finger working back and forth against her clit. First over her undies with his hand shoved down her pants, then a second time when he immediately asked if he could make her come again, this time with no panties on. April was a panting, sweaty mess by the end of it, because once she was naked in front of him, it was only a matter of minutes until his mouth was on her. 

And surprise, surprise, Donnie had been doing some research. How else to explain how good he already was at going down on her? He ate her out like he was starving for her—and April half-wondered if she hadn’t come partially from the sounds he made while he worked. Those longing-filled groans and little grunts were downright indecent.

By the time he was finished, he’d dropped down and April was finally able to see _all_ of Donnie. He’d muttered something halfway apologetic about how different he knew he looked, but he’d quickly shut up when April eagerly swung herself over his thigh, wrapped her fingers around his cock, and started pumping him. 

He was slippery and smooth in her hand, and she worked him until his hips began thrusting. After a few seconds of debate, she’d experimentally licked up the side of his shaft, and if the noises he’d made while going down on her were hot, they didn’t hold a candle to the shuddering groan of “ngggahh Aprillll,” that fell from his mouth when he’d felt her tongue on him. Feeling encouraged, she’d taken him in her mouth (as best as she could… her mouth was only so big) and sucked him until he was gripping the bed sheets and gasping out a warning that he was about to explode. 

They hadn’t been able to hold off much longer after that. Less than 24 hours, in fact. They were rolling around on April’s bed again, shamelessly grinding against each other when April decided she’d had enough. Donnie was on top of her, sucking on her neck and grinding his erection over her undies and she was officially a mess. A horny, dizzy mess and she couldn’t wait any longer. 

“Donnie,” she sighed, and he grunted inelegantly into her neck. “Wait.” She grabbed his face between her hands and pulled him up to look at her. He stilled his hips, but she could still feel him, hot and thick against her soaked panties. _Focus, April_ , she reminded herself. 

“Are you ok?” he asked breathlessly, his eyes darting nervously over her. 

“Yeah… more than ok,” April said. “It’s just… I want… I don’t want to stop tonight. I want you inside of me.” 

She watched Donnie’s eyes flutter shut for a moment as he shuddered against her. “Yeah, ok,” he said, nodding. “Are you sure?” 

April grinned. “So sure.” She reached between them and peeled off her undies, leaving her bare beneath him. 

Donnie gazed down at her. “Fuck, I can’t believe…oh god, April,” he muttered. He dipped down to nip at the sensitive spot at the edge of her collarbone, and she bucked her hips against him, both of them moaning when her slit glided over his shaft. Truth be told, she hadn’t heard a word in any of her earlier classes—after finally seeing Donnie’s cock the night before, she’d spent most of the day thinking about what it might be like to have _all_ that inside of her. Yeah… they were never going to be able to make it to a week before this happened.

She eagerly watched as Donnie pulled back, took himself in hand and lined himself up. Her heart fluttered as she felt his tip nudging against her opening and she had a fleeting, impatient urge to flip him over and sit down hard on his cock. But she still had some sense and knew that slow was the best way to go here, so she laid still and gripped his shoulders. 

It took a minute, with some push and pull on his part and deep breaths on hers, but when Donnie was finally fully inside of her, there was only one word for what she was feeling: full. So fucking full. He was as deep as he could possibly go and in the few seconds it took for her to get used to feeling him inside her, April went from wondering if maybe they had rushed this to thinking holy shit they hadn’t gone fast enough. 

Donnie, for his part, held still above her, though she noted his arms were shaking slightly. “Talk to me Donnie,” she said softly. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

He groaned and his voice wavered as he spoke. “I’m thinking that this is amazing. You feel… god, you feel so good. You just… you tell me what you want.” 

April squeezed his biceps. “I want you to move.” 

Donnie nodded and moved unsteadily, pulling himself out and pushing back in, watching her carefully for her response. It was still a lot to take, but she could feel the initial ripples of something that felt good and she honed in on that feeling, moving her hips with Donnie as he pumped in and out of her slowly. 

Things picked up, and it soon felt like Donnie was surrounding her, inside and out. He held her tightly to him—just like he always did when they were together—and pressed his face to her neck, alternating between kissing and sucking on her skin and murmuring how much he wanted her, how good she felt around him. 

She wrapped her legs tighter around him as he moved inside of her and tried to move with him. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be. They clung together, grinding and thrusting into each other as Donnie’s movements gained speed. 

Before long, she could feel Donnie’s thrusts growing uneven and she felt torn. She was incredibly turned on by the idea of watching him finish inside of her—his face in that moment was already something she was locking in her memory tank forever: eyes half shut, jaw slack and cheeks pink as he lost himself in her. But she also really wanted to come, too. Her orgasm wasn’t completely out of reach. She could just about feel it, but as good as Donnie felt as he moved inside of her, it just wasn’t enough. 

She wiggled underneath him, mumbling that she wanted him to touch her, and he didn’t lose a second before shoving his hand between them and thumbing her clit. And that certainly did the trick. A few seconds later, April felt herself coming—and doing that with Donnie’s cock inside her, filling her up over and over again… _yeah_. Call her officially converted. She hoped Donnie didn't have any plans for the next few nights because she was gonna need some more of that. 

She came back to earth just in time for Donnie to slam inside her one last time, jerking and shuddering as he came inside her with a loud groan. And fuck if that wasn’t the hottest thing she’d ever seen. She felt another throb in her clit and wondered idly how quickly Donnie might be able to go again. 

She stroked down his sides as he panted above her before eventually pulling out of her and collapsing on the bed.

“April…” he wheezed. 

“Mmm.”

“That was… holy chalupa I can’t believe we did that.” He turned toward her, grinning in a way that looked almost giddy. 

She laughed and kissed him. “Really? I feel like we’ve been barreling toward this from the second we got together.” 

Donnie slipped an arm around her and pulled her closer. “I know. I had just been a little unsure about how it would all work out. Whether everything would, you know. Fit ok. I didn’t want to hurt you.” 

“Ah,” April nodded sagely, then bit her lip as she debated whether she should share what she was thinking. _Oh what the hell. He’s my boyfriend._

“I wasn’t worried about that. I knew we would be ok. We, uh, we aren’t the first turtle-human couple to try this, if you get what I mean.” She raised her brows at him, hoping he’d catch on. 

It took him a second, but then his eyes went round and his jaw dropped into a wide smile. “Are you talking about Leo and Karai?” 

She giggled. “Yep. Leo was projecting some _strong_ mental images the one day we were in the lab.”

“I knew it! I mean, uh, good for them,” he said awkwardly. “And weird for you, I guess.”

“Yeah it was, but it sorta gave me the courage to dive head first into this,” she said. “Not that I would have held back too much even if I didn’t know it was a possibility for us.” 

“Hmm,” Donnie kissed her temple and snuck a hand between them to cup her breast and swipe at her nipple, making her suck in a breath. “You know, I gotta say, as horribly as things tend to go when I hook you up to that machine, it does tend to pay off in the long run.” 

“Oh does it?” April teased, kissing his neck and slinging a leg over his hip. 

“Sure does,” he murmured, grabbing onto her thigh and hoisting her leg up further. “First, you helped my brother get his confidence back and saved the rest of us from that killer bird.” 

“Mmm, I did do that.” She could feel him against her again, hard and slick, and she moved her hips to slide over him. 

“Ungh…” he groaned. “And the next time you were able to save me…”

“After I practically obliterated you.”

He bucked his hips and his tip caught at her entrance before sliding up and over her clit, effectively silencing her. “Yeah, but after… didn’t you say that’s when you started to realize you had feelings for me?” 

“Yesss,” she hissed as they moved against each other. 

“Just saying,” he paused and nipped at her earlobe. “For all the trouble it causes, that machine has done us a lot of good, too.” 

“I guess so. Still gonna destroy it though,” she warned, then laughed. 

“We’ll do it together,” he agreed, then rolled her onto her back and settled on top of her. “Maybe tomorrow night if we’re not too busy.”

“We’ll get to it eventually,” she moaned and pulled him down to her. 

They did eventually set about dismantling the machine. After about a month. Priorities, you know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo Don’s refractory period is like, pretty much nonexistent but whatevs. 
> 
> Thanks everyone who’s been reading and commenting and kudo-ing! You guys are the best... like seriously. You guys make me want to keep writing more for these two dorks in love. 
> 
> ❤️WB


End file.
